River basin planning

River basin planning involves improving and protecting the
water environment

Latest RBMP news

Over the next few months, SEPA will be working
with a wide range of responsible bodies, industries and
stakeholders to build the partnerships necessary to deliver
improvements to Scotland’s water environment.

Running in parallel with this period is the
publication of consultations on the second river basin plans for
both the Scotland and Solway Tweed river basin districts which will
be published in December 2015.

Your input to these consultations and
contribution to the delivery of the second river basin plans is
essential if we are to meet the challenges facing our water
environment in the future.

Given the high level of support received, the
proposals outlined in the consultations are now being taken forward
to develop the second river basin plans. Ongoing engagement and
formal consultation will provide further opportunities to influence
what can be achieved for the water environment over the next twelve
years. The consultations on the development of the second river
basin plans will be published in November 2014.

Scottish Government
updates

Improving the physical condition of Scotland's water
environment

The consultation on the second round of River Basin Management
identifies that, in Scotland, the banks and beds of over 300 water
bodies are adversely affected. This is caused by the legacy of
historic engineering activities such as the construction of dams,
weirs and culverts, and land use activities such as poaching by
livestock and cultivation close to the watercourse.

This is one of the most challenging aspects of our work to
improve Scotland’s water environment. Progress to date has been
relatively limited, and this challenges us to develop a more
strategic approach underpinned by legislative drivers and financial
incentives.

The Scottish Government has now launched a consultation
to strengthen the delivery framework. This sets out proposals in 3
broad areas:

promote a more structured approach and greater collaboration in
the development and delivery of river restoration projects,

introduce legislative provisions to help SEPA ensure that
structures owned by public authorities do not cause adverse impacts
or prevent fish passage.

The consultation will run until 22 May 2015. It is expected that
the finalised Regulations will be laid before the Scottish
Parliament in the autumn of 2015.

Developing the second river basin management
plans

We are currently working towards producing the second river
basin management plans in 2015.

There are three key steps to
producing the second river basin management plans:

The second plans will:

be informed by what we have learnt through delivering the first
cycle objectives; and

target improvement to where we have confidence of environmental
impact, and also where most benefits will be achieved

During the first cycle it has become apparent
that the most challenging of the pressures are from diffuse source
pollution, and changes to the physical condition of rivers, lochs
and coastal waters. Together, these pressures cause significant
environmental harm affecting fisheries and protected areas such as
bathing and drinking waters, but also impact upon the capacity of
our water environment to support development and adapt to climate
change.

In 2013, we published an assessment of the
current condition of the water environment and challenges for its
future management. That report provided a detailed description of
progress towards the objectives we had set for 2015 and identified
where we would need to make a step change in our management of
particular pressures, such as diffuse pollution, if we are to meet
our goals for 2021 and beyond. The reports can be found on the
significant issues page.

Mechanisms for tackling these pressures will be
at the heart of the second plans. The RBMP National Advisory Group
is advising on how we can more effectively tackle these pressures
in the second cycle. These views are summarised in the strategy
paper
‘Tackling the challenges for Scotland’s water
environment’ (80kb)

Getting involved in the
development of the second plans

Further information about the planned engagement work being
undertaken to develop the second plans can be found on the
how we work with others page.

River basin management plans objectives are
delivered by a broad range of organisations and sectors. To set
objectives for the second plans SEPA is engaging through:

sector/pressure specific meetings and workshops

advisory groups

formal consultations

To initiate this process SEPA consulted across
the Scotland and Solway Tweed river basin planning districts to
engage interested parties on development of the second RBMP cycle.
The comments and suggestions we received in 2013 continue to be
used to improve the engagement process. For summaries of the
comments received see the digests below: